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Roominate has raised $2.0M across 1 funding round.
Key people at Roominate.
Roominate was founded in 2012 by Alice Brooks (CEO and Co-Founder).
Roominate has raised $2.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Roominate designs and produces interactive construction kits centered around miniature room building, which integrate functional electrical circuits. These customizable sets empower users to construct and connect various components, fostering an understanding of engineering and design principles through hands-on play. The company’s approach emphasizes engaging young individuals, particularly girls, with practical applications of science and technology within a creative context.
The company was founded in 2012 by Alice Brooks and Bettina Chen, both graduates of Stanford University with engineering backgrounds. Their shared insight stemmed from recognizing a need for more appealing and accessible tools to introduce fundamental STEM concepts to a younger audience. They aimed to create a product that would bridge the gap between traditional play and technical education, drawing from their own experiences in engineering.
Roominate’s primary users are young girls, for whom the product is specifically marketed, encouraging exploration in design, circuitry, and spatial reasoning. The company’s overarching vision is to inspire and equip the next generation with foundational skills and confidence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It strives to make these complex fields approachable and enjoyable for future innovators.
Key people at Roominate.
Roominate has raised $2.0M across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $2.0M Seed in August 2014.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 1, 2014 | $2M Seed | — | Spark Capital, Techstars, David Cancel, David Hauser | Announced |
Roominate was founded in 2012 by Alice Brooks (CEO and Co-Founder).
Roominate has raised $2.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Roominate's investors include Spark Capital, Techstars, David Cancel, David Hauser.
Roominate is a STEM-focused construction toy line designed for girls aged 6–11, featuring modular plastic building pieces, furniture components, and simple circuits like motors, lights, switches, and battery packs to create interactive dollhouses, carnivals, townhouses, pet vets, and more.[1][2][3][4] Founded by mechanical engineers Alice Brooks and Bettina Chen under Maykah Inc., it addresses the underrepresentation of girls in STEM by blending building, circuitry, design, crafts, storytelling, and creativity to spark interest in science, technology, engineering, and math during play.[1][2][3][6] The product solves the gender gap in educational toys—often marketed to boys—by transforming traditional dollhouses into tech-savvy kits that won awards like Parents’ Choice Gold and TIME Toy of the Year finalist, achieved $5 million in sales pre-Shark Tank, and secured retail distribution at Toys R Us and Radio Shack.[1][2][4]
Alice Brooks (B.S. from MIT, Master's in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford) and Bettina Chen (Master's in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford) met in Stanford's engineering program and bonded over frustration with the divide in children's toys: boys got building sets, while girls were steered toward dolls without engineering elements.[1][2][3][4][6] Inspired by their own childhood toys and aiming to close the STEM gender gap—where fewer than 15% of U.S. women enter college intending STEM majors—they prototyped Roominate as a wired dollhouse kit.[3][6] Launched in 2012 via Kickstarter, it raised $85,000 against a $25,000 goal, followed by Stanford incubator StartX participation and partnerships like EdForward for educational guides.[2] Pivotal traction came from Shark Tank Season 6 (2014), where they pitched for $500,000 at a $10M valuation and secured investment from Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner for 5% equity; by 2016, PlayMonster acquired the brand, with Alice continuing development.[1][2][4]
Roominate rides the early 2010s wave of STEM toys addressing gender disparities in tech/engineering pipelines, where girls were underserved by construction toys amid rising calls for diversity in STEM fields.[1][2][3][6] Timing aligned with crowdfunding booms (Kickstarter success) and TV exposure (Shark Tank), amplifying reach during a period of toy industry shifts toward educational, inclusive play amid declining traditional doll sales.[1][2][4] Market forces like parental demand for skill-building toys, retail partnerships, and acquisitions (PlayMonster in 2016) propelled it, influencing the ecosystem by inspiring similar girl-focused STEM lines (e.g., GoldieBlox) and proving toys can boost female engineering interest from age 6–11.[2][4][6] Its awards and sales validated scalable models blending fun with circuits, paving the way for broader edtech toys in a post-Barbie diversification era.[1][4]
Post-acquisition, Roominate thrives under PlayMonster, expanding kits and awards into 2015–2016, with potential for digital integrations like AR builds or app-guided circuits amid evolving STEM toy trends.[2][4] Rising AI/STEM education pushes and global gender equity initiatives will shape its path, possibly evolving into hybrid physical-digital experiences or school curricula tie-ins. Its influence may grow by mentoring more girl-led innovations, cementing Brooks and Chen's legacy in sparking engineering confidence—echoing their original mission to rewire dollhouses for a tech generation.[1][4][6]
